Fires of Prometheus

THE HUDSON ARCHIVE


The Hudson archive held by the museum consists of about 50 boxes of material, mostly carbon copies of orders together with a number of "Dead" files, drawings and a few photographs. A few boxes date back to WW1, but most of the material is considerably later, ending in the 1970s. A small number of boxes were examined for general background information, including records of orders through the Crown Agents and the War Office. The former revealed the company's activities in a large number of countries. The latter were of interest against the background of large orders during WW1 of material for trench warfare and in WW2 for wagons used in arms depots. Both these areas deserve further research.

The Hudson Archive merits focused research that was beyond the scope of this review. A quick skim resulted in some tantalising examples of what they contain and the challenges they present to historians. Two examples, The Falkland Islands and Aden, are included here.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

More Hudson archive material is held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London. This mostly dates from the 1960s—1980s, with a little earlier material dating back to c. 1940. Although beyond the scope of this review, it would be worth examining the earlier material, which includes photographic material showing Hudson products on various sites (Canada, Philippines, Uganda, Australia etc) as well as the Leeds factory (box HUD/4/3/7). This would add valuable background information to any collection of Robert Hudson rolling stock.

Last updated 9th November 2019

Page from a Hudson order book
A page from a Hudson order book: destined for "Trench Warfare," 1918

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Page from a Hudson order book
A page from a Hudson order book: destined for the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield Lock, 1916

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Page from a Hudson order book
A page from a Hudson order book: destined for the inland waterways, 1917

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Page from a Hudson order book
A page from a Hudson order book: destined for use carrying munitions, 1916. Every article where practicable to be stampedwith the War Department symbol

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